Fig. 5.

A schematic illustration of the effect of mound formation on kink density n̄k−₁, kinetic coefficient β, and step velocity v. (A) As supersaturation σ = C/C_e − 1 increases from the top to bottom cartoons, the intensity of mound formation increases. This increase leads to a higher n̄k−₁ and proportionally higher β and v. Kinks are indicated by a light-colored contour around the molecule that is to the left or right of them. (B) According to the relations shown, ν is the frequency of molecular attempts to attach to step and U_o is the barrier for such attachment. The large x marks kinetics reflected in Fig. 3A, where σ ≈ 0.05 and v ≈ 0.10 nm·s⁻¹; the large plus sign marks kinetics reflected in Fig. 3B, where σ ≈ 0.1 and v ≈ 0.6 nm·s⁻¹; white squares mark data from refs. 16 and 35 for σ > 0.2; and vertical dashed lines delineate σ ranges of three kink generation regimes illustrated in A.